-
The Definitive FDR
- Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882-1940) and Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940-1945)
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 58 hrs and 5 mins
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Publisher's summary
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in US history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. James MacGregor Burns's magisterial two-volume biography tells the complete life story of the fascinating political figure who instituted the New Deal.
Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882-1940): Before his ascension to the presidency, FDR laid the groundwork for his unprecedented run with decades of canny political maneuvering and steady consolidation of power. Hailed by the New York Times as "a sensitive, shrewd, and challenging book" and by Newsweek as "a case study unmatched in American political writings," The Lion and the Fox details Roosevelt's youth and education, his rise to national prominence, all the way through his first two terms as president.
Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940-1945): The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning history of FDR's final years examines the president's skillful wartime leadership as well as his vision for postwar peace. Acclaimed by William Shirer as "the definitive book on Roosevelt in the war years," and by bestselling author Barbara Tuchman as "engrossing, informative, endlessly readable," The Soldier of Freedom is a moving profile of a leader gifted with rare political talent in an era of extraordinary challenges.
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- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and a reluctant American public to support the British at a critical time.
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If we are together nothing is impossible
- By Susan on 03-06-10
By: Lynne Olson
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Masters and Commanders
- How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945
- By: Andrew Roberts
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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An epic joint biography, Masters and Commanders explores the degree to which the course of the Second World War turned on the relationships and temperaments of four of the strongest personalities of the 20th century: political masters Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the commanders of their armed forces, General Sir Alan Brooke and General George C. Marshall.
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Holocaust?
- By binkabul on 09-21-20
By: Andrew Roberts
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Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume One
- By: Michael Burlingame
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 49 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first multivolume biography of Abraham Lincoln to be published in decades, Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame offers a fresh look at the life of one of America's greatest presidents. Incorporating the field notes of earlier biographers along with decades of research in multiple manuscript archives and long-neglected newspapers, this remarkable work will both alter and reinforce our current understanding of America's 16th president.
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Psychoanalysis from afar.
- By Jackstraw on 06-02-17
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Troublesome Young Men
- The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain - indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.
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Spectacular Narrative History Book
- By Nostromo on 11-30-18
By: Lynne Olson
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Hubert Humphrey
- The Conscience of the Country
- By: Arnold A. Offner
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Hubert Humphrey was one of the great liberal leaders of postwar American politics, yet because he never made it to the Oval Office, he has been largely overlooked by biographers. Historian Arnold A. Offner has explored vast troves of archival records to recapture Humphrey's life, giving us previously unknown details of the vice president's fractious relationship with Lyndon Johnson, showing how Johnson colluded with Richard Nixon to deny Humphrey the presidency, and describing the most neglected aspect of Humphrey's career.
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Outstanding Biography
- By Jean on 12-18-18
By: Arnold A. Offner
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Victoria
- A Life
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The longest reigning British monarch and female sovereign in history, Queen Victoria was a figure of profound paradox who has mystified historians for over a century. Now in this magisterial biography, A.N. Wilson rebukes the conventional wisdom about her life - that she was merely a "funny little woman in a bonnet" who did next to nothing - to show she was in fact intensely involved in state affairs despite a public façade of inaction.
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This book has old and new info
- By Dr. A. on 10-29-14
By: A. N. Wilson
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Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume Two
- By: Michael Burlingame
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 53 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In volume 2, Burlingame examines Lincoln's presidency and the trials of the Civil War. He supplies fascinating details on the crisis over Fort Sumter and the relentless office seekers who plagued Lincoln. He introduces listeners to the president's battles with hostile newspaper editors and his quarrels with incompetent field commanders. Burlingame also interprets Lincoln's private life, discussing his marriage to Mary Todd, the untimely death of his son, Willie, to disease in 1862, and his recurrent anguish over the enormous human costs of the war.
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A Magnificent and Important Book
- By G. Green on 03-03-16
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Frank and Al
- FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party
- By: Terry Golway
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Just before the Roaring Twenties, Al Smith, a proud son of the Tammany Hall political machine, and Franklin Roosevelt, a country squire, formed an unlikely alliance that transformed the Democratic Party. Smith and FDR dominated politics in the most-powerful state in the union for a quarter-century, and in 1932, they ran against each other for the Democratic presidential nomination, setting off one of the great feuds in American history. The relationship between Smith and Roosevelt, portrayed here, is one of the most dramatic untold stories of early 20th-century American politics.
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Solid and important history
- By J&L Hely on 08-27-23
By: Terry Golway
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Polk
- The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Alan Nebelthau
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a major political biography of a great American president - who won a war, transformed the government, and doubled the size of the United States...in four years. When Polk was sworn in as the 11th president, what followed was one of the most consequential presidencies in history.
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Polk: One of our most important Preidents
- By Rik GNV on 10-12-08
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What listeners say about The Definitive FDR
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Maui Diver
- 01-20-23
A man and how he changed world history
Of all the books I have read on FDR and the history of FDR this is by far the best and deserves several readings. It is complete factual and entertaining. 10 / 10
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- Michael
- 01-13-24
Dedicated Author
This authors dedication to the study of history is absolutely amazing. The depth of all the supporting characters makes this book so rich.
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- STANLEY W. BELL
- 07-19-23
Very good
I have read quite a few books about FDR this is certainly one of the most interesting and informative ones very well done
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- FarmBoy
- 01-12-24
Superb and comprehensive
The Burns volumes themselves were, in my view, superb. Though perhaps not as compelling a storyteller as somebody like Robert Cato, Burns was a careful, thorough, and capable biographer, who prepared a deliberate and comprehensive review of a giant’s life. I listened in parallel with my reading a biography of Churchill and John Meacham’s “Franklin and Winston” and the effect was a stereoscopic view of the war years.
The reading was decidedly a mixed bag. On the plus side, the reader does a remarkable imitation of FDR that captures his accent, timbre, and rhythm. (He also, it should be noted, does a passable limitation of Churchill,) Initially, I found the impersonations distracting, but eventually warmed to his FDR. (His imitations – or whatever they are – of figures like Stalin and Hitler and others, however, are just silly.) On the other hand, the reader’s pace is slow, his voice gelatinous, and his butchery of foreign language words – which he insists on rendering with an heroic enunciation that would make Twain faint – is a labor. (If I had to listen to even one more reference to “ray-al-pol-i-TEEK, I might well have expired.)
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- Albert Brodeur
- 12-28-23
A Review of "The Definitive FDR"
James MacGregor Burn again did a wonderful job. I very much enjoyed this presentation and representation of FDR's life and times.
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- Jack Gladney
- 12-19-23
Excellent scholarship
This richly informed biography of FDR offers cogent analysis, alongside an extravagant description of an incredible life.
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- washingtonrebel
- 11-14-23
Awesome!
Listening to this book has been an awesome experience! It’s quite lengthy but there is no fluff in it. I have read a fair number of books about FDR but I still learned much about the man and his life and times. It kept my interest throughout as well. The narrator was good .. pleasant to listen to and didn’t distract from the content. I will listen to this again even with the time commitment!
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- Ryan Baumbach
- 02-16-24
Excellent narration
If you like long audiobooks like I do and you like nonfiction then you should purchase this book. The guy who did the voice work is quite outstanding. Beyond this being a fairly comprehensive work about FDR, his narration is almost movie star quality. I would’ve liked to hear his best Russian accent though since he seemed incredibly talented yet was unable to pull that off.
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